Kim Min-seok: 'Dividing up stakes is old politics — competitiveness will drive candidate unity'

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said Friday that "dividing things up based on stakes is old politics," adding that any coalition — whether with other parties or within the Democratic Party itself — would be decided on the basis of competitiveness.

Kim made the remarks Saturday at an "open day" event held by the Democratic Party's Pyeongtaek-eul district committee, saying the party would "take the path of the elder brother of a structurally majority progressive party that embraces conservatives and centrists."

"We will form alliances and engage in dialogue with progressive reform parties and center-right forces," he said, "and candidates within the party will also be chosen on the basis of competitiveness."

Kim said the party would pursue "a grand unification that brings together progressive parties and individuals, centrist individuals, and those who are conservative yet rational and capable." He added that the Democratic Party would form alliances with parties such as the Social Democratic Party, the Progressive Party and the Basic Income Party, and would decide through discussion whether to merge with or simply ally with the Rebuilding Korea Party.

He reiterated that "whether we merge or form an alliance, the overriding principle is competitiveness."

Pyeongtaek-eul was the site of a June 3 by-election in which the progressive camp was split between Democratic Party district committee chair Kim Yong-nam and Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk, then head of the party's innovation policy institute, allowing People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Eui-dong to win the seat.

Kim expressed support that day for Kim Yong-nam, who had competed against Cho in the previous election. Shortly after taking office as party leader, Kim Min-seok appointed Kim Yong-nam as the standing vice chair of the party's policy committee.

"The thinking of the government and the party is not to use people who were on the conservative side during the last presidential election and then discard them, but to bring in capable and talented people and broaden the horizons of politics," Kim said. "The goal is to build a wide field that encompasses progressive reform and center-right forces alike."

"In that sense, I expect people like committee chair Kim to play an even greater role in our politics, our party and our government, and I will support that," Kim said. "I expect him to pursue politics in Pyeongtaek that understands growth and community care."

He also acknowledged that "the current state of national affairs is somewhat more difficult than it was a year ago, when the term had just begun," noting that approval ratings for the president, the government and the ruling party had fallen from their initial levels. "Ultimately, the foundation of politics is the people's livelihoods, and reviving them is the only precise answer to overcoming this situation," he said.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Song Young-gil, also at the event, took aim at Cho, who had campaigned in the previous election under the slogan of making the PPP "zero" in the district. "Someone suddenly showed up saying they would make the PPP zero in what they called hostile Democratic Party territory — and then left having made the Democratic Party zero instead," Song said.

Song added that "the party and the Lee Jae Myung government are currently facing a number of difficulties," and, invoking commentator Yoo Si-min's "ABC theory" popular among pro-government circles, said: "At a time like this, we need to show what the true core supporters really are, and what the real Group B really is."